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Adding Text Boxes

Besides the bulleted text boxes found on many slide layouts, you can also add your own text boxes to slides. These "free" text boxes can be used wherever you need extra text on a slide. For example, you can use a text box as a picture caption (Figure 4.12).

You format the text in a text box in much the same way that you format any text (for more about this, see "Formatting Text," later in this chapter), but there is a special dialog box that you can use, too.

To add a text box:

On the slide where you want to add the text box, choose Insert > Text > Text Box.

The cursor changes into a crosshair.

Click and drag the cursor, drawing the text box to the size you want and putting it where you want to position it on the slide.

Release the mouse button to create the text box, which displays an insertion point, then enter your text (Figure 4.13).

Figure 4.13 When you see the insertion point, you can type your text into the text box.

TIPs

Free text boxes automatically grow or shrink vertically to handle the length of your text. You can resize them using their selection handles, just like most other objects in PowerPoint.

If you want to rotate the text box, click and drag the green Rotate handle above the box. The cursor turns into a curved arrow, and you can rotate the box freely.

To format text in a text box:

Right-click the text box, then choose Format Shape from the resulting shortcut menu.

Figure 4.14 You can tweak properties of your text box with the Text Box category of the Format Shape dialog.

Make adjustments to your text.

You can change the vertical alignment, the text direction (horizontal or rotated in 90 degree increments), the way the text is automatically fit in the box, the margins of the text within the box, or the number of columns in the text box.